Sen. Hatch: No Obamacare Repeal Without Romney

Sen. Orrin Hatch said Monday there’s no chance of Republicans succeeding in repealing Obamacare, despite a vote Wednesday in the House that will likely win approval but go nowhere in the Democratic-controlled Senate. The only way to get rid of what he called “this awful healthcare bill” is for the country to elect Mitt Romney in November.

“I believe the way that has to happen is for Mitt Romney to get elected president, and I think bringing in enough Republicans to take over control of the Senate,” the Utah Republican told Fox News’ Greta Van Susteren Monday. “At that point I would be chairman of the Finance Committee. And, of course, one of my biggest goals would be to straighten this whole mess out.”

Hatch, who in the past has been talked about as a possible Supreme Court nominee, said he agreed with the court’s decision that the federal government cannot force the states to expand their Medicaid programs.

The ruling allows states to “opt out” of that provision of Obamacare without fear of losing current funding levels. So far, at least six Republican governors have said they have no plans to expand the program.

“If I had my way, I would have held the individual mandate unconstitutional, but I would have certainly said you can’t force the states to take more and more Medicaid recipients . . . when they know that the monies aren’t going to be there in the future,” Hatch said, referring to the fact that Congress has yet to sign off on funding for the expansion.

Hatch also disputed President Barack Obama’s claim on Monday that he has presided over a number of tax cuts since he became president.

“Anybody who believes that hasn’t looked at the record,” Hatch said, noting that Obamacare increases taxes by $500 billion alone.

“Their whole goal is to get more money so they can spend more money and claim they're doing a lot of good for the American people as they run us into bankruptcy,” he said.